A known challenge is preserving copper bond wires during decapsulation, as conventional acid processes can damage the wires. This becomes even more critical when silver-plated leadframes are used, since acid and conventional plasma etching readily attack silver and make stitch bond exposure difficult.
This work, by Sumitomo Bakelite, presents a decapsulation process based on Microwave Induced Plasma (MIP) etching to handle high Tg plastic packages with copper wire bonds. The process enables controlled mold compound removal while preserving copper wires and silver-plated leadframes, supporting reliable analysis of advanced automotive packages.
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https://www.jiaco.com/decapsulation-of-copper-wire-devices-with-high-tg-mold-compound-using-microwave-induced-plasma/#download-publication-section